April 17, 2009

 

IN WHAT could be a portent of things to come for SGV, stockholders of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. yesterday deferred the appointment of an external auditor, leaving the choice to the ICTSI board instead.

 

 

Washington SyCip

 

The decision was made despite SGV, long-time ICTSI auditor, sending a full-court contingent headed no less by SGV chairman David Balangue and managing director Cirilo Noel to the annual shareholders’ meeting held at the Peninsula Manila.

 

Ironically, the reappointment of SGV was already listed in the ICTSI agenda; but, after a motion from the floor, the issue, to the mortification of the SGV team, was referred to the board with nary any objection.

 

Ominously, the SGV partner-in-charge, Emmanuel Clarino arrived and left with just-retired SGV vice chairman Roman Felipe Reyes, the most senior of the 14 SGV partners who voted to leave the country’s largest accounting firm over unresolved partnership issues with the multinational Ernst & Young.

 

Despite his scheduled retirement in August, Clarino decided to join the so-called SGV 14 and take early retirement rather than submit to Ernst & Young, after signing off the ICTSI 2008 audit report.

 

According to the grapevine, two other publicly listed companies had also been on the verge of replacing SGV this year were it not for the timely appeal from SGV founder Washington Sycip, who is celebrating his 88th birthday on June 30.

 

Two years ago, SGV lost another crown jewel account, San Miguel Corp. and its various subsidiaries, over accounting issues between the food and beverage conglomerate and Coca-Cola and Ernst & Young.